Culture 12

I can‘t see that there is a difference between black or white … The difference could be that … and this is not the fault of the individual – that the culture is not the same, or that they have not reached the same level that we have.

Maria Eriksson Baaz (2005): The Paternalism of Partnership. A Postcolonial Reading of Identity in Development Aid. London: Zed Books. p. 47

Anonymous Danish development worker interviewed by Maria Eriksson Baaz for her book Paternalism of Partnership.

This quote exposes two common ways in which white people conceptualise culture: on the one hand, by completely negating differences and pretending that all people are the same ("colour blindness"). A primary problem with this view is that it does not take power relations into account. On the other hand, the quote also reveals an internalised sense of superiority. White people often assume that they themselves have reached the highest level (across different scales: development, democracy, etc.) and that other people or cultures still need to be developed.

*Timo Kiesel und Carolin Philipp (2011): White Charity. Blackness and Whiteness in Charity Advertisement. Documentary.

2005